Flat wick-tube



J. W. KNUBLEY. Flat Wick Tube.

No. 231,180. Patented Aug. 17, 1880.

NITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN W. KNUBLEY, OF BOSTON, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF OF HIS RIGHT TO FRANCIS AMORY, OF BEVERLY, SAMUEL SNOW, OF CAMBRIDGE, ED- WARD W. HARMON, OF HAVERHILL, AND ORSON J. NOBLE, OF MEL- ROSE, MASSAGHUSETTS.

FLAT WlCK-TUBE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 231,180, dated August 17, 1880.

Application filed November 29, 1879.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN WILLIAM KNUB- LEY, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flat Wick- Tubes for Kerosene Lamps and Stoves; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference beinghadto theaecompanyingdrawings,which IO form part of this specification.

My said improvements consist, first, in making a tube for a flat wick having that portion thereof where the wick passes the wick-raiser or ratchet bulged or curved about the ratchet,

I and combined with said ratchet by placing the ratchet within and across the center of said curved or bulged part, so that the passageway which is designed to carry the wick is V curved around that portion of the ratchetwheel which engages the wick, with the effect of forcing the wick to make a curvature where it passes said ratchet, for the purpose of bringing the wick into more effective contact with a larger portion of the ratchet (or wick-raiser) 2 5 wheel than is practicable in a tube in which the said passage-way is approximately straight; and, second, they consist in making such atube with such a curved passage-way on both sides of a ratchet placed in the center of the 0 bulged or curved portion of the wick-tube, so that the same tube maybe used in raising and lowering the wick as a right-hand or left-hand tube, at the option of the operator; and, third, in an improved guide or shield to aid in di- 5 recting and retaining the wick in its proper course into and through said curved portion of said tube as it approaches and passes the ratchet, and susceptible of a swinging movement, whereby the passage-way on either side of the ratchet may be opened or closed; and,

fourth, in making a flat wick-tube with washers, to prevent the seepage of oil from the wick through the holes in the end walls of the tube, which serve as the journals in which the ratchet 4 5 shaft or spindle turns, and to prevent any endwise or lateral movements of said shaft or spindle in said journals.

My said improvements are represented in said drawings, in the several figures of which the same letters refer to the same parts.

Figure 1 is a view, in perspective, of the outside of the wick-tube, showing the thumbpiece and part of the shaft or spindle of the ratchet. Fig. 2 represents a vertical section of the tube through its end walls, showing the ratchet, washers, and guide or shield in place. Fig. 3 represents a vertical section of the tube, ratchet, and guide through the side walls of the tube, at right angles therewith, showing also the outline of the thumb-piece of the ratchet. Fig. 4 is a view, in perspective, of the ratchet, consisting of the thumb-piece, shaft or spindle, and wheels, which constitute the wick-raising apparatus.

In these figures a. a is the middle vertical line of each end wall of the tube. 1) b is the central vertical line of the cavity of the tube.

0 c c is a curved or bulged part of each of the side walls, and is the outside wall of the curved passage-way for the wick where it passes said wheels. d d are the ends or heads of the said drum-shaped portion 0 c c of the tube. These ends or heads form a part of the end walls of the tube, but project outside of the line a a, as and for the purpose hereinafter set forth. s is the spindle, and r r r the wheels, of the ratchet. 'w w are the washers. g is the shield or guide. 15 is the thumb-piece of the ratchet.

Above and below the bulged or drum-shaped part c c c the Wick-tube is straight. When So the wick is placed in the tube at the upper end, a b a, and is pushed forward to the ratchetwheel 1, it will be engaged by and carried on either side of the ratchet, in accordance with the direction in which the ratchet is turned. By this means the device maybe used to elevate the wick either to the right or to the left side of the ratchet. This has its peculiar advantage in combiningthe tubes in groups or sets. All the wicks may by this means he so 0 arranged that they may all be alike raised or lowered by like turns of the several ratchets. When the tube is designed to be thus used the axis of the spindle or shaft should intersect the lines a a b b at right angles, as shown in the 5 drawings.

In order to make a passage-way which is curved where the wick passes the ratchet and is adapted to receive and carry the wick, the spindle or shaft .sruns through the cavity and end walls of the wick-tube at or near the center and middle thereof. The ratchet-wheels are of any convenient size aml number, and are set firm and centrally on said shaft in the ordinary manner. They project across the cavity beyond the straight line of the passage way far enough to force the wick to make a substantial curvature in passing them. The side walls of said tube are bulged out around the said wheels, as shown at ee 0, so as to conform in shape to the desired part of the periphery of said wheels aml leave convenient openings of suitable size for the wiek to press into and through the passageway on either side of said wheels, as shown at 1' e e r r in Fig. 3.

By this construction and relative position of the shaft or spindle and said walls of the tube the wick, when inserted, is readily directed bythe wick raisingand lowering wheels toward the curved wall and between it and the wheels.

In all flat wick-tubes now in use the passageway designed to carry the wick is straight; the walls thereof are also straight, and the ratchetwheels, commonly passing through openings or slots made by removing portions of one side wall, engage the wick by pressing it against the other or outside wall. The spindle or shaft of said wheels is moved so far to one side of said passage-way that the wall on the other side is approximately' tangential to said wheels, and the portion of each wheel within the passage-way is so small that practically there is only one tooth on each wheel in effective contact with the wick at one time. In straight passage-way tubes the wheels in tdrning are pressed, and they press the wick against the opposite wall, thus tending to produce a curvature in said wall, which, in conse quence, soon loses its rigidity and its straight and even surface and its proper position relative to the ratchet. The hold of the ratchet on the wick is relaxed and its action thereby diminished in power and impaired in precision. This serious difliculty is avoided by my method of placingthc ratchet and makingthe outside wall of the passage-way for the wick with a curvature about the ratchet in conformity with the contour of the ratchet-wheels.

By my said method all the teeth on about one-half the periphery of each ratchet-wheel (or on that part thereof to which the said wall is conformed) simultaneously engage the wick when in place as it ascends and descends; the wick closely embraces the said portion of the ratchet-wheels, and is thereby held in place on the ratchet. The motion and power of the ratchet, as it is turned, instead of being dissipated in jamming and pressing the wick against the opposite wall, acts directly to move the wick as desired. The pressure against said wall being thus diminished and substantially jured, cut, or torn by the ratchet, and it drafts the oil more freely and with less interruption and obstruction than when it is held and operated by the action and pressure of a comparatively small number of teeth on each wheel as they successively engage the Wick in a straight tube, the wall of which opposite the ratchet is tangential to the ratchet wheel. When the end of the wick reaches the side of the ratchet-wheel opposite and farthest from the entrance to the tube, and where it ought to pass into the lower or other straight portion of the tube, there is a tendency to carry the wick around and entangleit with the other side of said wheel and with the spindle, and to jam the wick against the opposite side of the tube and the edge thereof. To obviate this ditiiculty l have devised a shield or guide, y. This is a thin plate of metal or other material, of suitable width, suspended from the spindle .s', on which it swings freely, reaching to the line where the lower straight portion of the side walls of the tube begin to bulge to form the drum-shaped portion of the tube, as shown at c.

The washers 1c uare disks of metal or other suitable material, firmly and centrally fixed to the spindle, and fitted closely to the inside of the drum-heads (l d. These are designed and used to prevent the escape of oil from the wick through the holes or journals in which the spindle turns, and to prevent the endwise or lateral movement of the spindle, which, in the ratchcts and tubes in common use, is less completely prevented by the bearings of the ratchetwheels against the sides or edges of slots in the tube.

The drum-heads d (1 project beyond the general line of the end walls of the tube far enough to make room in the inside for said washersto come flush with the interior surface of the straight parts of said end walls, so as not to interfere with the passage of the wick in the tube.

Iclaim as my invention, in a kerosene-oil burner- 1. A tube adapted to carry the wick flat, in which the passage-wayforthe wick and the outside wall thereof make a curve around a portion of the wick-raiser wheels, which conforms to the contour of said wheels in direction and shape where the wick passes the wick-raiser, as described, in combination with a wick-raiser havin g the shaft and wheels located as set forth, for the purposes set forth, and aguide or shield which directs the wick into and through the curved part of the tube.

2. A tube adapted to carry the wick flat, in which the passage-way for the wick and the outside wall thereof, where the wick passes the wick-raiser,makeacurveconformingto thecontour of the wheels of the wick-raiser, adapted to hold the wick-raiser in contact with the greater portion of one-half the periphery of each wheel, in combination with auvick-raiser having the shaft located as set forth, as and for the purposes set forth, and a guide or shield which directs the wick .into and through the curved part of the tube.

3. A tube for a flat wick having the part c c c bulged or curved out around the wickraiser Wheels on both sides thereof, as shown and described, in combination with a wickraiser having its shaft located as set forth, for the purposes set forth.

4. A flat wick -tube having its side walls curved or bulged out on both sides of the wickraiser and straight above and below, in combination with a wick-raiser located as set forth, the wheels of which project beyondthe straight parts of the sides, as and for the purposes set forth.

5. A tube for a flat wick having its cavity divided by the wick-raiser into a passage-way on each side thereof, and each side passage-way adapted to receive and carry the wick, and having its outside wall curved or bulged out in conformity with the contour of the wheels of the wick-raiser, as shown and described, in combination with a wick raiser having its shaft located as set forth and its wheels across the straight lines between the two ends of the side walls, all as described, and for the purposes set forth.

, 6. A wick-tube and ratchet or wick-raiser having a passage-way for the wick on both sides of the said ratchet, in combination with the washers w w, for the purposes set forth.

7. In a tube for a flat wick, the projecting parts 41 d, for the purposes set forth.

8. In a wick-tube, the projecting end 01, in combination with the washer w, for the purpose set forth.

9. The guide or shield g, in combination with a wick-tube and ratchet or wick-raiser, for the purposes set forth.

10. The guide or shield g, in combination with a fiat wick-tube having a passage-way adapted to receive and carry the wick on both sides of the ratchet.

11. In a wick-tube, a wick-raiser and the bulged or curved part c c c, and the washers w w, in combination, as described.

12. In a wick-tube, a wick-raiser and the curved part c c c of the tube, as described, and the washers w w and the shield g, in combination, for the purposes set forth.

13. A flat wick-tube the passage-way and walls of which are curved to conform to the contour of the wick-raiser wheels, in combination with a wick-raiser having its wheels and shaft located as set forth.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand this 21st day of November, A. D. 1879.

JOHN WILLIAM KNUBLEY.

Witnesses:

FRANKLIN D. WILLIAMS, SAMUEL SNow. 

